Maturity trumps youth in Brazil’s battle of the carnival queens

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Brazil is coming of age. A country where youth and beauty have long since been the twin pillars of popular culture is grappling with a new reality: that women of a certain age can be the most beautiful of all.

As the country prepares for next month’s Carnival, eyebrows have been raised and heads turned by two of Rio’s most famous samba schools, which have elected women in their mid40s as carnival queen. They have entered the preserve hitherto reserved for the most beautiful young celebrities.

Each year the country’s glamorous women slug it out to be chosen in front